The Hacker's Fall
by VisibleThunder
Summary: Alec Hardison was a hacker. One of the very best, in fact. So he questioned himself why he was in this position, fifty-six stories above the safety of the ground, when he could be back in the comfort of his van; hacking. This is a recollection of the famous hacker's first fall, thankfully, he had Parker there to catch him. VT


Heyoo

Well, you people seemed to like my first Leverage story, so I decided to write another, this time featuring Hardison. Sorry that it's shorter than the other, but I had a bit of a hard time with this one. Nonetheless, I did my best to keep everyone in character and to make it as good as the last one. Hope you leave me some reviews, and hope you all enjoy! :)

~VT

* * *

The Hacker's Fall

Alec Hardison was a hacker.

He was good with technology; he could trace anyone that left even a slight trail, and he could cover tracks effortlessly. He had grown up discovering just how much you could do with computers, and he slowly but surely fell in love with the epic world of a hacker. Of course, he used his skills illegally sometimes, but when he had met the Leverage team he had found how to use his talent to really help people. So gradually, he had become a part of their odd but caring family. Their current job was going well, too. The mark was falling into their trap just as Nate had planned, and everything had been going relatively smoothly.

So Hardison questioned why he wasn't in the familiar comfort of his van hacking again, and instead was standing atop a high- rise office building, about to go repelling off the side and through a window on the thirty-sixth floor. He figured it probably had something to do with the exited and smiley blonde next to him, who was currently strapping a harness and gear onto him.

"Parker, look, I don' think I should do this…I mean I could just mess you up. I think you could get in the computer just fine without me righ' here." Hardison's voice was a bit more higher pitched than normal, as he had been gazing off the edge of the building as he said this. The thief beside him frowned at the nervous looking hacker, and slapped him roughly on the shoulder saying, "Don't worry about it! It's easy, you'll do fine. I guarantee you'll love it too!

"Parker, most people don't enjoy jumping off of high-rise buildings. That's not exactly normal." The sound of Eliot's deep chuckle washed through the comms at Sophie's observation. "And no Hardison, you know you need to be in there to get those files off that computer. You'll be fine- just get it over with." Nate's groggy sounding voice drifted through the comms, wanting to hurry this up so that they could all go home and sleep; seeing how they were out doing this at three o'clock in the morning. "Yeah, well, y'all don't have a fear of heights now do ya'? I don' trust this harness…you sure it's safe Parker?" Hardison was getting more and more anxious by the second, his acrophobia showing itself again. He tensed as the symptoms began to appear; shaky limbs, sweating, harsher breathing, and a racing heart.

Sophie decided to try and help her poor teammate. "Don't worry Hardison, just close your eyes and it'll be over before you know it. It's just a quick in and out after you jump anyways." Eliot decided to try and support in his own way with a gruff and harsh, "Just do it already Hardison!"

Hardison and Parker were now standing on the very edge of the building, both with harnesses on and ready to go. Parker took another glance at her friend, and noticed the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead along with the slight trembling in his hands and arms. So she put her hand on his shoulder, fixing the anxious hacker with a look that said, _'I'll be right here, you're fine.' _Hardison's thoughts were racing a mile per second, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, and his eyes constantly darting back to the twenty-story drop they had to make. _'That's fifty-six stories if we don' stop dropping 'till we hit the ground…'_ Hardison quickly tried to ignore this thought, and tried to focus more on Parker's warm hand and gaze. _'Screw it.'_ Was his last coherent thought before he gave a final uneasy nod to Parker; and then they were falling.

His thoughts were a whirlwind of panic the second he felt the terrifying feeling of his feet leaving the relative safety of the concrete ledge below them. And suddenly all he knew was, _'Oh shit we're falling no- no- no the ground's comin' up too fast what if we don' stop falling? No- no- no! Fear- no why falling-…no… __**we're falling**__!'_

Suddenly he felt the jerk of the harness, and he stopped falling and started swinging; wildly flailing his arms and legs to try and find something stable- or _anything_ at all to hold on to. He could faintly hear the sound of his team's voices from his comm over the pounding of his heart and the rasping quick breaths he was drawing. He then took notice of Parker trying to get him to come through the now open window so they could complete their task. Still extremely shaky and panicking, Hardison managed to flail his way to the window and unstrap his harness inside the office they now stood in. Hardison was now in a state of complete panic. He swayed dangerously as vertigo from his stunt finally caught up with him, and ended up having to sit down against the wall of the office; trembling, sweating, and gasping for a full breath of air. He subconsciously heard parker sit next to him and pull him into an attempted comforting hug as he tried to convince his brain that he was no longer falling. That he was in fact safely on a floor and with someone he completely trusted.

Parker was listing to Eliot and Nate's concerned voices snapping at her over the comms, trying to figure out what was wrong, and why they were hearing Hardison wheeze so desperately for air. The thief ignored them, opting to instead whisper soft, comforting words to her shaking friend. The two stayed like that for a couple minutes, Parker doing her best to soothe the shaken hacker and Hardison trying very hard to calm himself down. Eventually, Hardison had gotten his breathing and panic under control, and looked up at his blonde friend to say a quiet, "Thank you."

The blonde thief smiled down at Hardison, nodding and helping him back to his feet. Hardison then proceeded to order his still shaking fingers to swiftly copy the files from the office computer, while Parker simply explained to the rest of the crew, "He was just shaken from his first jump, I helped him calm down and he's fine now. Just finished with the files and now we're gonna head back down to the van." Hardison shot her a brief grateful look for not telling them more than they needed to know. The three waiting in the van shared a few apprehensive looks, before Nate replied, "Alright, head on down so we can get outta' here." Hardison and Parker then shared a fleeting, but meaningful look laced with their own stubtle messages, before leaving the office and taking the elevator back to the ground. Hardison seemed to calm the rest of the way down once he set foot on the soil outside, and they went and got into the van and relaxed the rest of the way back to the apartment.

Hardison soon saw the compassionate, knowing glances he was receiving, and returned them with reassuring smiles. Saying without words that he was fine; Parker's soft hand over his own reassuring him that he was, in fact, going to be just fine.


End file.
